Bathukamma: A unique festival Of flowers in Telangana
Bathukamma, one of the unique festivals in Telangana, which is celebrated with great enthusiasm by women who create colorful floral creations. The women sing and dance around these beautiful creations. The festival comes at the end of the monsoon when fields and forests are lush and verdant.
Bathukamma is a nine-day festival that starts on Mahalaya Amavasya and ends on a specific day called the Saddula Bathukamma. Each day has its significance and a particular kind of naivedyam (offerings of food) to the Goddess. For instance, in 2026, Bathukamma will be celebrated from 10 th to 18 th October. The following table indicates what offering of food goes with each day:
Date of celebration Name Description
10 October Engili Pula Bathukamma Offering: Sesame seeds, Rice flour and broken rice.
11 October Atukula Bathukamma Offering: Flattened rice (atukulu), jaggery and plain cooked lentils (sappidi pappu).
12 October Muddapappu Bathukamma Offering: Thick cooked lentils (muddapappu), milk and jaggery.
13 October Naney Biyyam Bathukamma Offering: Soaked rice, milk and jaggery.
14 October Atla Bathukamma Offering: Atlu (dosas)
15 October Aligina Bathukamma On this day, no offering is made as per tradition since the Goddess is believed to be sulking.
16 October Vepakayala Bathukamma Offering: Rice flour arranged in the shape of neem fruits
17 October Venna Muddala Bathukamma Offering: Sesame seeds, butter or ghee, jaggery
18 October Saddula Bathukamma Offering: Five kinds of saddulu (traditional rice dishes) including curd rice, tamarind rice (pulihora), lemon rice, coconut rice and sesame rice.
Local Flowers And The Festival
It is the local abundance of flowers such as Tangedu and Gunugu that make the festival so beautiful. The men folk pick up the flowers from their fields on the day of the Saddula Bathukamma. On the morning of the day, parents and their children put together the large circular flower structures, within which an idol of the Goddess Gauri is placed for worships. The flowers picked during the festival are natural products that do not need any artificial embellishments.
The love and devotion of the people of Telangana towards their nature and its products finds its expression in this festival.
Women and the celebration
As a festival celebrated mainly by women, it provides an opportunity for them to meet old friends and relatives and also enjoy wearing new clothes. Women from different parts of the state come together with their Bathukammas, creating a sense of festivity in all villages and cities.
During evenings, women carry the Bathukammas made by them on their head in a procession to the nearest water body or a well and sing songs and dances around it while throwing the flowers into it.
Living tradition that binds people
Flowers, songs, dances, games, family and devotion bind the people of this region together and make this day special. It is a joyous occasion for the inhabitants of Telangana, who live closely with the elements of nature. As a living tradition, it reflects the age-old relationship of people with the forest, water, trees and flowers. The words of the song “Bathukamma, Bathukamma, Uyyalo” beautifully capture it all. In every Bathukamma decorated with flowers, there lives the spirit of the people of Telangana, their joy and the bonding that their women folk share with their family and friends in addition to their devotion to God and nature’s bounties.